More than a third of the women the website had surveyed would have to cut back their living expenses to cope with higher premiums and one in 10 may end up selling their car.

Others, though, forecast the increases could be gentler than expected, provided insurers can piece together enough information about someone as a driver.

Kevin Pratt, insurance expert at the MoneySupermarket website, said he hopes insurers will place greater emphasis on factors such as job, type of car, driving record, any security measures on the car and age to make sure drivers can still get a reasonable price.

The new rules could also hit men reaching retirement, with annuities possibly decreasing by up to 13% a year. Women may see their life insurance policies increase by 16%.

Currently, men usually get a higher pension income than women because, on average, they die younger.